Oilers rearguard itching to play now that he's cleared for tonight

After missing the last 11 games with post-concussion syndrome, defenceman Steve Staios is ready to re-join Edmonton's beleaguered blueline.

They're hoping he can take some pressure off the likes of Tom Gilbert, Denis Grebeshkov and Taylor Chorney, who've struggled under the additional minutes and responsibility thrust upon them by injuries.

"Everybody is working hard and trying to do the right thing, we just haven't been able to get it done," said Staios.

"Hopefully we can start to raise the intensity and start getting some wins. That's always been part of my game.

"I'm not going to do anything that I haven't done in the past. I feel energized and you realize how much you miss the game when you're sitting out.

"I'm really excited about getting back in."

Comrie draws back in

The Oilers didn't handle Mike Comrie's flu recovery all that well -- sticking him in for an Oct. 27 game before he was ready and flying him out for a four-day road trip in which he didn't play a game -- but he's finally ready to play.

"I think maybe we were premature in putting him in three games ago when he wasn't ready for it," said head coach Pat Quinn.

"Part of this is an asthma thing."

He can breathe now, and is scheduled to be in the lineup tonight against the Rangers.

"It was a tough 10 days," he said. "But the last couple of days have been a vast improvement."

Hemsky sits out practice

Ales Hemsky didn't practise yesterday. They're calling it a maintenance day and expect him to be in the lineup tonight. But Ladislav Smid, who's just getting over a case of swine flu, is sick again. There's no telling if he'll be ready to go.